Israeli forces keep Nabi Saleh gates closed for 2nd day

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces kept gates surrounding a West Bank village near Ramallah shut for the second day in a row on Sunday, locals told Ma'an.

Locals said Israeli forces blocked roads and deployed dozens of soldiers in Nabi Saleh on Sunday, a day after the village was declared a "closed military zone."

Soldiers also fired tear gas and stun grenades in the village, making it even more difficult for people to leave the village, witnesses added.

Israeli forces surrounded the village and declared it a "closed military zone" on Saturday, subsequently injuring two Palestinian civilians, a local group said.

The attack by Israeli forces came a day after Israeli forces detained five -- including two Palestinian women and three foreign journalists -- and lightly injured a French journalist during a protest in the village, which has held weekly protests for four years against Israeli confiscation of village lands.

Soldiers arrived "suddenly" on Saturday to close the village entrances and then targeted locals nearby, shooting a young man with a live bullet and injuring a 45-year-old woman after beating her, local popular resistance group "Intifada" said in a statement.

The woman was identified as Wijdan al-Tamimi, while the injured young man was not identified.

"Intifada" said that the attack was part of an escalation in military violence against the village in recent months.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said that "as a result of a violent riot" on Saturday afternoon, "one of the two gates of Nabi Saleh was temporarily closed."